Safe Habitable Homes was set up to provide holistic and trauma informed support to people who are living with self-neglect and hoarding. The service supports residents in the Norwich City Council area, regardless of whether they rent or own their home.
The service is delivered by a partnership of agencies including St Martins, Norwich City Council, Norfolk County Council and the Fire Service, as well as wider voluntary partners including social prescribing teams INTERACT, and Mind.
The aim of the service is to:
- Reduce fire risk
- Reduce the risk of falls
- Reduce the risk of poor health related to clutter, infestation, or infection
- Improve the person’s self-reported wellbeing and the wider determinants of health
- Improve the person’s ability and confidence in engaging with wider services, including healthcare
- Reduce the risk of cluttering, hoarding and self-neglect behaviours restarting after clearance and support
- Engage and support unpaid carers and families to be part of the support team, where appropriate
- Reduce the need for formal housing procedures such as eviction or enforcement by anti-social behaviour or public protection teams
We do this by:
- Building rapport and trusting safe relationships
- Listening and understanding what is important to the resident
- Building a multiagency understanding of risk to the person
- Offering support to achieve a range of goals that the residents want help with
- Bringing in micro-providers to support with decluttering when they’re ready
- Long term approach, including step down support
For more information please contact: safehabitablehomes@norwich.gov.uk
